Due to the ever-increasing number of people with mobile access to communication networks, mobile buyers, using wireless communication devices, present sellers with a large and relatively technically sophisticated buying community.
Wireless communication devices communicate packets including voice and data over a wireless network. Wireless devices are being manufactured with increased computing capabilities and are becoming tantamount to personal computers. These “smart” wireless devices, such as cellular telephones, have application programming interfaces (“APIs”) installed onto their local computer platform that allow software developers to create software applications that operate on the cellular telephone. The API sits between the wireless device system software and the software application, making the cellular telephone functionality available to the application without requiring the software developer to have the specific cellular telephone system source code.
Although the purchasing of product or services by mobile buyers using their wireless communication devices is fairly common, the various purchasing schemes currently offered are relatively simplistic and may not allow the buyer and seller many options. In many instances, the product or service is simply downloaded upon demand to the buyer's device, and the transaction, including debiting the buyer and crediting the seller is managed by the carrier. In such circumstances, where the seller has already made a substantial outlay of capital, either to purchase product or to secure transmission bandwidth or facilities, the seller may be at risk if a certain threshold of sales is not met.
In other purchasing schemes, such as subscription services, a buyer may be required to buy a subscription in advance to finance the delivery of a product or service at a set time in the future. However, due to scheduling uncertainties, many buyers are reluctant to pay in advance for a product or service for which they may unable to take delivery.
Thus, improved mobile purchasing systems are desired.